Judges' Chat

Here is a very lengthy article from yesterday's Daily Mail, in which the judges comment on each of the couples. Although I actually think it's an interview with Craig and Arlene, with a few old quotes from Len and Bruno thrown in.

I know there will be people out there who think it is wrong for the 'impartial' judges to talk to the papers in this way. But I don't think it's any different than them talking to Claudia. And, despite being judges, they are also human, and even if they didn't talk about their opinions, they would still have them. In defense of Craig in particular, he always says "I would love so-and-so to come out and really go for it..." I think all of the judges do have faith in the participants.

Below are a few highlights, but it's worth reading the whole article. Although nothing beats this, which was supposedly said by Arlene...

"Last year [Nicole] was the first to leave the competition with Nicholas Parsons and this year she's determined to hang in there."

Nicholas Parsons?? I can't believe that Arlene would have said that, which makes me perhaps a little suspicious of anything in the article appearing in quotation marks...

Craig on Brendan & Kelly: "I've never seen him happier than I have with Kelly Brook. He's lusting after her like mad. Kelly's no fool behind all that upholstery but thank God she's engaged to Billy Zane who is always in the front row watching every single movement of Brendan's hands."

Arlene on Gabby & James: "Gabby is an outstanding individual who has a very dominant personality. The man is supposed to lead in dancing but James will have to be very strong to get Gabby to fall and melt in his arms."

Craig on Kate & Anton: "[Anton]'s very competitive and has been given such dross in the past with women and Kate's no better. It's really tough for him."

Arlene on Letitia & Darren: "Letitia has absolutely got talent but her nerves just ruin everything she does, and instead of feeling confident in herself and her ability she's like a shrinking wallflower."

Craig on Penny & Ian: "[Ian]'s the best man for Penny as he teaches with kindness - unlike the aggressive Brendan or James."

Arlene on Alesha & Matthew: "Alesha is a natural and I think they will creep right up to the top. I think we're going to see the true Matthew this year."

Arlene on Gethin & Camilla: "Camilla is a tough cookie but will have to work extremely hard to get Gethin to the standard she needs him to be."

Arlene on John & Nicole: "I saw [John] last week on another television show and was pleased to see that, after telling him off for not standing up correctly, he had a complete change in body language which is encouraging."

Arlene on Dominic & Lilia: "[Dominic] is going to make everybody laugh - well, probably not Craig, who never laughs and always takes himself too seriously."

Len on Kenny & Ola: "Ola and James are so competitive with each other and so are Gabby and Kenny who are both very fit and sporty. But it's going to be fascinating as it's now clear that Kenny is not a patch on Gabby as a dancer."

Len on Matt & Flavia: "Matt has great potential as he's young, fit and good-looking so I see no reason why [Flavia] can't turn him into a great dancer."